GAME NOTES: The final game of the Cancun Challenge will feature a pair of
unbeaten teams as the Iowa Hawkeyes and Wichita State Shockers meet in the
Riviera Division championship game.

The Hawkeyes never trailed in their 63-55 first round win over Western
Kentucky on Tuesday. Coach Fran McCaffery had to be delighted with his team's
effort on both ends of the floor as the school produced its first 5-0 start in
four seasons. After needing a huge rally to overcome a 23-point deficit versus
Gardner-Webb on Saturday, Iowa made sure WKU did not jump in front by holding
the Hilltoppers to 28.6 percent shooting from the floor in the opening 20
minutes. Although the Hawkeyes played well, they still exhibited their youth
with 18 turnovers.

Wichita State continued to impress with its fifth straight win to start the
season. The Shockers overpowered the DePaul Blue Devils to outscore their Big
East foes, 44-8, in points in the paint. Coach Gregg Marshall's team had only
let one opponent score more than 60 points coming into the game, but he can
not be disappointed in his squad's defensive effort that help DePaul to 15-
of-49 shooting from the floor in the game. Wichita State has defeated all but
one of its fist five of its opponents by double-digit margins. The one
exception is VCU, which the Shockers beat by two points after Malcolm Armstead
made an 18- foot jumper as time expired.

This will be the ninth meeting between these programs. Both sides have won
four games a piece in the rivalry's history. The Shockers won the last two to
tie the all-time series.

Iowa missed all five of its three-point attempts after halftime on Tuesday,
but it still managed to extend its lead to as much as 12. The team shot 50
percent from the floor, but still only tied WKU, 33-33, over the final 20
minutes due to its eight second half turnovers. Freshman guard Mike Gesell
came into the matchup with WKU on a terrible shooting slump in which he made
just 1-of-14 field goal attempts over a two-game span. The rookie bounced back
with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting fro the field to lead all scorers. Roy
Devyn Marble was a primary focus of the Hilltoppers' defenders. Instead of
forcing bad shots with defenders draped all over him, Devyn Marble dished out
five assists and managed to score 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field
(4-of-4 FT). Melsahn Basabe was also very efficient with 11 points on 4-of-5
shooting.

Although the Shockers scored a great deal of their points in the paint on
Tuesday, they were ice cold from the outside. The team went 4-of-16 from
behind the three-point line while also missing 11 free throws. Wichita State
can afford to have off-shooting nights if it continues to assault its
opponent's field goal percentages with stifling defense. The Shockers are a
very tough team to prepare for due to their balanced attack. Demetric Williams
and Armstead came into Tuesday with respective scoring averages of 7.2 and 6.4
ppg. Armstead caught DePaul off guard and went onto to lead the team with 17
points. Williams was close behind with 16 points. Carl Hall also scored in
double figures with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, which he accompanied with
five boards and three blocks.

Iowa's high turnover frequency should be a major concern for McCaffery as he
enters his 300th career game as a head coach. The Hawkeyes will be able to get
away with loose ball handling versus the likes of Western Kentucky, but the
Shockers are far too physical and scrappy to be careless against. Iowa will
need Gesell to stay hot to stretch the defense or it will lose its third in a
row to Wichita State.